A short Q&A with a top seller

There are two ways to upsell guests at your fun center, whether you want to encourage mini golfers to stay for lunch, or want to entice diners to visit your arcade room—printed material or verbal sales messages.

A fun indoor playground means return visits

There are a few things to consider when purchasing indoor playground equipment. Likely the two you'll be focused on is 1) what will best fill my space and 2) what will it cost. But if you only focus on those two factors, you'll miss out on the most important component that will guarantee your fun center's success—the playability factor.

Does your family entertainment center need one?

They’re cute, or cool…or even scary! But mascots are a fun way to add personality and personalization to your fun center brand. Mascots are perfect to send out to community events or sponsorships. They say “fun” in a way a staff member in a logo shirt and hat can’t quite communicate. They also provide an easily-remembered visual identity for your fun center.

Should you buy your indoor playground equipment from China?

As you're developing your family entertainment center plan, if you plan on catering to children 12 years and under, one of the biggest equipment costs will be your indoor playground equipment.

You'll have two choices when it comes to purchasing your play structure—buying from within North America, or buying from China. Buying China will look very appealing, as their costs can be as much as 70% cheaper. But don't let that influence you—there are some very real concerns you should consider when examine before you purchase equipment from China.

Concerns to keep in mind

Several fun center developers have learned the hard way about buying indoor playground equipment from China. Here is what several have shared with us:

Playground features that deliver ROI

You're paging through the shiny indoor playground catalogs, looking at the gorgeous play structure floor models at IAAPA…but how do you know which combination of indoor playground structure features will get you the most ROI?

Here are three simple things to keep in mind when you're shopping for your new fun center or existing fun center's new indoor playground.